One step back, two steps forward
Slow ride, take it easy…
As excited as we were to start our adventures in Australia, Kara and I tried to be mindful to not be on the go constantly. As we jump from city to city and country to country it'll be important to not let the urge to squeeze every little bit of adventure out of our time, control us. That feeling can be consuming and easily lead to travel burnout.
As we venture on we’ll be utilizing “slow travel” which will allow us downtime during our travels. Slow travel will allow us time to rest and recharge. When traveling with kids, the mental exhaustion can compound, especially during transit. It’s also our hope that slow travel will also support our children’s long-term happiness and mental stability.
The first couple of days in Port Douglas were, therefore “slow travel” days. Kara and I took the time to do some laundry, plan the next piece of our journey in a camper van, and take care of some finances. It also gave us some time to debrief on our travel hiccups going from Fiji to Sydney to Cairns. Having to sift through eight pieces of luggage and mix and match our items so that they get through airport security definitely left an impression on us.
Pack as a unit
When your entire life is in a carry-on and a backpack you end up spending a lot of time determining the significance of each item that you bring along. When we initially packed our carry-ons and backpacks we packed them individually. We went through each individual’s checklist and packed them according to that person’s needs. It made sense at the time but when you’re in a crowded airport repacking eight bags to meet new security requirements, individually packed bags just adds fuel to the fire.
So what have we figured out since then? I’m glad you asked!
In order to maintain some sanity in the future, our new packing strategy is to pack as one unit. Family travel requires everything to be managed together in every situation. It should be easier to pack bags as one unit by compiling items by category and placing them in the same bag.
All liquids together in the same bag and make sure they are in a clear plastic bag as there are a lot of airports that require this.
All electronics that have rechargeable batteries are together in as few bags as possible. Electronics are heavy so having them all in one backpack probably won’t work for a family of four and still meet the 7kg carry-on limits like Jetstar/AirAsia so make sure to distribute the weight.
Put all charging cables and accessories together in a single case so that when we unpack we don’t need to sift through multiple bags to find them
We packed all our clothes into just two carry-ons so that the other two carry-ons can be used for everything else
Packed Christopher and my clothes into one carry-on as well as Kara and Elle’s in another carry-on
Liquids were packed in clear bags and packed together in one carry-on
We packed all cables, chargers, and accessories together so that they are easy to find and pack away
I think going forward this new way of packing will allow us to find and manage various items easier when we’re in a tight bind like airport security.
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